Small business is an ongoing, stressful gig.
Now in an “acutely” stressful situation, as animals, we’ll fight. We’ll see a sympathetic response – mobilised state, increased level of alertness, and higher heart rates.
But when the stressful situation is repeated, or chronic, if we think we don’t have control, the default behaviour is the opposite – an apathetic state, lethargy and a slowing down of the heart rate.
This is the default state of helplessness in the face of ongoing stress.
We see this happen in small biz all the time, with both owners, and employees.
A lack of willingness to show up (there’s an ability, just no drive), “I can’t be bothered” narrative, or just submitting to the daily grind.
If we consider ourselves to be “trapped” in our situation, Covid restrictions, dark weather, lack of early business traction, many people give up, move towards mindless distractions, or avoidance.
We “give in” to the situation.
This state of helplessness is a perception and nervous system issue, and the quickest way to overcome it is again, through the nervous system.
One main way we can do this is through seeing examples in others:
Surround yourself with those who “continue to push.”
You want to be around people who are “fighting” in the face of the perceived stress, not lying down. This creates learned “helpfulness” – and we can start to build our capacity.
Find those who are thriving, not just surviving.
Apathy, lethargy in the face of ongoing stress, feeling like we don’t have control, or learned helplessness is common in our culture.
In fact, in the face of repeated stress, it’s the default.
However, knowing that it exists means that choosing to take action to light our fire again is our responsibility.
[I originally wrote about learned helplessness here. It turns out that the original concept was backward. And in fact, the helplessness is the default mode in stressful situations, and helpfulness is a learned behaviour. See here for more.]
